The first show Broken Social Scene ever played outside of Toronto was a night in Montreal supporting The American Analog Set. The evening was the start of a mutual respect and friendship that has culminated in the Austin, Texas natives signing to Arts & Crafts. With Set Free, the Amanset celebr
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Apostle of Hustle first took shape after a two-month sojourn in El Barrio Santo Suarez, in Havana, in 2001. This experience was mind blowing for Apostle of Hustle's lead (Andrew Whiteman) from the ground up: the community, the fashion, the pace and the music. Whiteman returned to Toronto invigorated
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One of the more slightly awkward questions asked in the course of small talk is often, "Who's your favourite band" -You're supposed to answer, "I don't have one favourite, but I like" which will lead to a discussion of genres and tastes. I am one of the few with a definitive answer: Constantines. I
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Gentleman Reg has been performing in Canada since the turn of the millennium, garnering attention for his two acclaimed full-lengths, 2002's Make Me Pretty and 2004's Darby & Joan. With a voice from the heavens and an unforgettable look, Gentleman Reg is set to make his U.S. debut in early 2009 on A
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While it's true that you have to wait for inspiration to strike, there's comfort in knowing it will inevitably arise, even if you have to look all over the globe for it before you find it-or so goes the logic behind the epic recording process of Phoenix's new studio album. To write their new album,
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Love and death have always been the twin engines of the popular song: the pursuit of love and the mourning of its passing; the havoc death wreaks upon love; love's survival in the aftermath of death; death as metaphor for the loss of one's identity to the consumptive power of love...

Born in 1995, The Dears is the lifework of Murray A. Lightburn. Son of a jazzman-turned-preacher, Lightburn's attunement to songwriting was shaped equally by nineties rock and a broad tableau of gospel, soul, and pop music. Early incarnations of The Dears brought bassist Roberto Arquilla into the fo
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To speak of an artist's "growth" is an unforgivable cliche, but it's hard to describe Origin:Orphan, The Hidden Cameras' latest release, as anything but an evolutionary leap beyond their previous efforts. With this album, their fourth studio record proper, Toronto's self-proclaimed "mild-mannered ar
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There have been countless records that begin with the same bombast as The Most Serene Republic's ...And The Ever Expanding Universe, but few have taken listeners down a path of such enriching, introspective discovery. Long masters at stimulating senses and stirring emotions, the Ontario-based band h
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The Stills rose to prominence with the release of their 2003 debut album, Logic Will Break Your Heart, spawning the singles "Still In Love Song" and "Lola Stars And Stripes". The band honed their songwriting and experimented with new sounds on the underrated Without Feathers. With their Arts & Craft
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Lanark Islands, Ontario. An old farm-house with a brand new 4-track. It was the dead of winter. Outside the window a black goat with devil horns stared up from the blinding snow. Ivan calls those four green walls at the top of the stars the 'happy room'. It was where the songs were born. A dream of
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For their third LP, Young Galaxy gave themselves away. Shapeshifting's 11 new songs, lithe and mesmerizing, were completed at home and then sent away, across the ocean, to one of the world's most acclaimed and secretive producers. For nine months, Dan Lissvik, half of the Swedish duo Studio, curved
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